Beyond Limits
by RanmaLove
Summary: Ever since Ranma arrived at Nerima, Akane forgot how strong she was; the lioness hibernating within her soul; the power behind her punches. But with the Royal Tournament just around the corner, she must remember.. to survive.


Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½

Strength in Weakness

**Chapter One**

"You have some potential," the man admitted, eyeing her head-to-toe, "but are you sure you'll practice? Throw your heart and soul into this?"

Would she practice? She would practice, and practice, and practice, and practice. In fact, she would imprison herself inside of the dojo away from distractions, school, and, of course, Ranma; the main source of her problems. As much as she hated to admit it, she didn't mind that Ranma was stronger than her. Well, not as long as he didn't flaunt his strength or critique his martial arts skill cockily. Which was more often than not.

But yesterday was the last straw.

She requested, may she add, very kindly, for him to spar with her for one round in the dojo. Of course, the response she received was his macho man I'm-the-world's-greatest-martial-artist rejection. But it was different this time, he actually _meant _it. As in, he really thought of her as some sort of weakling compared to most of his competitors.

Well, she did have some sort of weaknesses like her temper, but she was a quick learner and persistent... that had to count for something right? She couldn't get a wink of a sleep last night, replaying the scenario over and over again. Ranma, sauntering out of the dojo with his hands resting on the back of his head. Her, devastated until morning, over thinking it all too much.

Which lead her to this teenage boy chopping wood in the middle of nowhere, isolated. She was searching for an instructor that could not only better herself, but take her beyond her limits; to surpass all Ranma's suitors and everyone else above. It was his poise, delicacy, and most of all, firmness in his work that made her instantly aware that he was perfect for the job.

"Of course I will!" She shot back, offended by his lack of trust in her determination. She could feel the heat rising to her face, her fists clenching as it always did when she was angry. _Come on, Akane, he won't take you seriously if you loose your cool,_ she reminded herself, inhaling deeply. "Sorry." She muttered.

"Then we'll start right away," he began, wiping the perspiration off of his forehead. "But if you don't mind, can I ask you why you chose me specifically?"

She shrugged, pretending it was just some random occurrence. Pure luck. "I don't know, I guess it was the way you cut your wood is all."

He threw his head back chuckling, amused by her answer. "The way I cut my wood," he echoed, shaking his head slightly. "Well, I'm Ryuu Tanaka by the way." He introduced himself, bowing slightly.

"Ah, sorry," she apologized, excusing herself for such impolite behavior. Bowing, she replied, "I'm Akane Tendo. Thank-you for deciding to train me."

"Don't mention it," he assured her, waving his hand dismissively at her. "It's really early, are you heading off somewhere?"

Well, school doesn't start for an hour so she really didn't actually have anywhere to go. She purposely ventured out before dawn since she expected spotting a teacher would result into a lot of hours of misfortune and bad luck. But, she had stumbled onto Ryuu after only thirty minutes since she left the house. She could stay here and research the guy, but she decided that would require prodding–– and she detested such a thing.

It would probably be best if she just headed home before anyone suspected she left in the first place. Namely, Nabiki. "Not really, so I guess I'll just go on home."

"Alright, but don't you think we should sort of make a schedule as to when I'll 'train' you?" He added as an afterthought: "You know, only if you ever plan on returning."

She frowned. Sarcastic. This boy was extremely sarcastic. "Saturdays and Sundays since I have school and other occupations."

"Two days? I expected you were much more dedicated to this," he sighed, pretending to actually be disappointed in her. "Such a shame."

"Fine," she replied irritatedly, yet appreciative that he would willingly teach her more days than she requested. So when she felt the edges of her lips twitching, she did not fend off the smile creeping on her face. "Mondays through Friday _and _the weekends. Happy?"

"Very," after a moment of silence he added: "I noticed the way you restrained your temper from earlier and realized you have a lot more promise than I first thought."

He noticed? Was he really that observant of her actions? But forget about all of that, this man just told her she had promise! For the first time that day, Akane felt hopeful about herself. Maybe she wasn't as terrible as Ranma thought. "Thanks," she glanced around the open space of his backyard, making an effort for conversation. "So, are you a lumberjack?"

He finally rose off the ground, towering a good eighteen inches over her. In fact, he was even taller than Ranma, she discovered. He had olive skin matched with gray eyes and topped off with his hair, dark and curly. "No, I just help my father out. He's the lumberjack."

She gave a simple "oh", not sure what else to converse about. But one thing was for sure, she didn't exactly want to leave yet, for whatever odd reason. She purposely glanced at the clock before saying, "I guess I have some time to kill."

"Alright, wanna head in for some tea?" She nodded. "Right this way."

She lagged a few steps behind him, studying his figure from behind. He was sturdily built, his stature and presence reeked of martial arts grace–– yet another thing she lacked. But she felt this compelling force that she could trust him, and her instincts never failed her before.

He led her into his house, which was smaller than hers yet awfully roomy. The furniture well spread apart and the floor, plain wood and polished. She adjusted her school uniform before sitting down in the chair he so kindly pulled out for her. After thanking him, she scooted closer to the table, a delicious set of pancakes, rice, ramen, pickles, and okonomiyaki placed before her. Suddenly, forgetting breakfast was the worse possible thing she could have done.

"Ah, so you attend Furinkan?" He asked, pouring the herbal tea in her cup. "Please, help yourself."

She did just that. "Yes," she muffled in between a stuffing of pancakes and rice. "What school are you enrolled in?"

"Seihou Gakuenn," he replied, fascinated by how much food she can consume while she appeared so petite and so, well, little. "I'm in my third year. You?"

"Me too," she agreed, and before she could stop herself blurted, "I plan on maybe going to Keio University or Waseda University. You?"

"Those are good choices. I'm guessing you must be really smart?" He then added: "And extremely wealthy."

She sighed. "That's why I need your help," she rummaged through her bag until she fell upon a flyer and laid it on the table before continuing,"for this tournament. The prize money will pay for everything. Housing, tuition, everything."

"Ah, the Royal Tournament," his eyes bounced from her to the paper, "I guess you didn't just choose me because of my chopping wood then, huh?"

OK, so maybe it wasn't _all _about the way he did his daily chores.

She rubbed her arm sheepishly, "uh, no, guess not. But your Ryuu Tanaka; the guy who took home the one hundred grand after defeating twenty-four people all at once. And I, well I need your help."

He nodded knowingly. "I usually don't help people with certain motives such as revenge or other self-centered reasons. I respect you for your decisions, so I'm going to help you. In fact, I'm assuring you the crown. That is, if you do exactly as I say and promise to be completely honest."

"Does trying to prove to your fiance that your not some weakling he can mock considered self-centered?" She asked hopefully, watching a scowl form on his face. "Did I mention he also has other fiancees who ridicule me any chance they get?"

His scowl remained.

"At least I'm being honest," she pointed out before continuing, "seventy-five percent of my purpose is for university. I swear!"

"So, what you're telling me is that if they provoke you, you'll use your superiority to take advantage of their weakness?"

That was exactly what she would have done. For as long as she knew them, she couldn't once defeat them in battle with Ranma always interfering. And although she would have given it her all, she was full aware she wouldn't be able to defeat someone like Shampoo. Ukyo, maybe. Kodachi, no doubt with a little practice. But would she honestly treat them unjustly? No, of course not. Even she had her limits. She wasn't heartless.

"No," she almost said bitterly, disliking herself for not being able to destroy her enemies with no remorse. "I do have a heart, you know."

He grinned. "What else pumps the cold blood that runs through your body?"

"Actually," she began, "I can't pump cold blood since humans are classified as a mammals seeing that we reproduce and produce milk, nothing like reptiles. In fact, reptiles are classified as amphibians. Read a book." She smiled, satisfied with the sneer forming on his face.

"Well, Ms. Know-it-all, can you tell me a little about evolution?"

Her smile disappeared and her brow creased in concentration as she collected whatever information on evolution racked in her mind, "Two processes are generally distinguished as common causes of evolution. One is natural selection, a process founded by the father of evolution, Charles Darwinism, a process in which there is differential survival or reproduction organisms that differ in one or more inherited traits. Another cause is genetic drift, a process in which there are random changes to the proportions of two or more inherited traits within a population. And––"

"I got it, missy," he grinned patting her on the back, "guess you don't have to study for the entrance exams, huh?"

It was her turn to scowl. "Oh, who could study with all of the ruckus in Nerima?"

"Ruckus?" He asked, slightly confused before continuing, "Nerima is not that troublesome. Why else did you think I came here?"

"Well, with a fiance like mine, it's hard to do absolutely anything except spectate for his martial arts match."

"So if your fiance's a martial artist, why doesn't he help you?"

"Because he's better than me," she answered sullenly. When she noticed the glint of question lurking in his eyes, she sighed. "He doesn't have time for a weakling like me." She spat, mimicking him right down to the placement of his hands behind his head.

"It seems like he puts you down a lot," he said.

"Well, sometimes..."

But that wasn't the half of it. After suffering through all of Ranma's verbal abuse throughout the two and a half years she's known him, she changed. She always finds herself second guessing everything she does. It doesn't help when he adds in a negative comment or two. And, she doesn't even have the chance to compete in anything since Ranma always volunteers–– and wins. Constantly wins.

As a matter-of-fact, a few weeks ago she decided to mention to Ranma that she was going to go find a martial arts teacher to improve her skills.

"Good luck to him," he snorted, launching a potato chip in the air and catching it with his mouth. "He's going to need all the luck he can get if he's going to teach a hopeless sap like you."

She felt a knife pierce her heart at the recollection of the memory, and rested a hand on her chest. Ranma's job was practically to shatter her self-confidence. But there were times where he can be absolutely sweet, like the time as Jusendo when she was almost dead.

Death.

Is that what Ranma needed to treat her kindly? For her to lay on her deathbed? Even after she recovered, he continued life as if normal, returning to his hurtful comments and countless insults. Suddenly, she felt tears welling in her eyes, and she knew she had to swallow them before she presented herself as weak in front Ryuu before she even got to practice with him.

"Hey, missy," he began, handing her a tissue. "I like to cry sometimes to."

She gazed up at him through her bangs, laughing when she saw his lips formed in a frown and his eyes twinkling in a girly manner. "Oh, please, you're the winner of the Royal Tournament, you've seen everything. What's there to cry about?"

"A lot of things," he murmured, somehow appearing distant as he gazed hardly at her. "A lot."

She shifted in her chair uncomfortable under his gaze, "Ah, Ryuu, do you live alone?"

"You're late for school."

She glanced at the clock on the oven, suddenly gasping. "I'm not just _late _for school, I've _missed _three hours of school!" She snatched up her belongings, "my dad is probably wondering where I am!"

He smiled, "doesn't this mean you can stay a little longer?"

Blow off school? The thought itself brought a million of consequences to her mind.

You'll miss some notes._ Sayuri could copy them for her. _

What about that test she studied for all last night? _You could re-take it._

You'll be a day behind everyone! _You're smart, you can catch up easy._

What had she to lose? There was nothing bad about staying an extra hour or so with her trainer. She rested her hand on the zipper of her backpack. "Sure, I'll just phone my father and tell him I'm taking cooking––"

He interrupted her. "Wrong answer," he rose from the table and took two steps _too _close to her comfort. "If it was that easy to manipulate you, I don't know why you're here. In fact, your pretty much a waste of time. It's not that I don't like you Akane, I really do. It's just that the Royal Tournament isn't something to be taken so lightly. This is life or death we're talking about!"

She slapped him hard across his face, feeling a different kind of fire erupting from inside due to his sudden outburst. "I know who my enemy is, Ryuu. I did this because you're my friend and I trust you and because I'm not in the arena. But when I _do _step in the arena, I know exactly who I'm dealing with. I'm not taking anything lightly, you're just taking me too lightly! I'm an heir to the Tendo Dojo and the daughter of Soun Tendo. If there is anything you shouldn't do- it's take me lightly."

Then she was gone.

**XxX**

By the time she had left Ryuu and reached her home, she was drenched from the heavy downpour outside. She angrily heaved the door open and slammed it shut behind her, ignoring Kasumi's greeting and the footsteps following after her as she escaped to her room.

"_In fact, you're pretty much a waste of time." _

She screamed into her pillow, thrashing her arms angrily against her bed. This wasn't her usual anger where she could just slap someone and feel better. She was angry because Ryuu was right. No, she was furious because Ryuu was right. She accepted him as a friend too lightly. She already trusted him. What if someone in the arena spoke to her kindly? Pretended to form an alliance? Would she trust them?

Yes.

She would. She would automatically embrace them with her usual kindness to strangers. But, what was so bad about generosity nowadays? She glared at her door when she heard the light tapping on it. Composing herself, she formulated an apology to Kasumi for her ill behavior at the doorway.

"Kasumi–" she interrupted herself when she saw Ranma standing at the doorway. "What the hell do you want?"

He was slightly taken aback by her swearing since she rarely did so, but he kept the smug look plastered on. "How about you tell me where the hell you went this morning?"

"Why do you care?"

"I don't," he hissed at her, "but your father does and you ignored him AND Kasumi when they tried to ask you. What were you doing? It's not like you to skip school."

"Don't you dare pretend act like you know me, Ranma!" Tears stung her eyes but she was filled with more rage than sadness. "You don't care about me! How about you just focus on things that really matter to you?"

She attempted to slam the door in his face but his foot was wedged in between. "If this is a about yesterday-"

"Don't be so egotistical," she spat, crossing her hands over her chest arrogantly. "You are better then me in martial arts," a smile slowly formed on her face, "for now that is."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"Isn't it obvious?" His confusion remained evident on his face. "Before you came to Nerima _I _was the strongest. _I _was the force to be reckoned with. _I _solved everyone's problems. But then you came along and stole that position from me. You became the strongest; you became the force; you became the resolver."

"Jealous?" He barked back, not sure what else to do but argue when Akane gave him compliments in such a bitter tone.

"Nope," she pointed a finger at his face. "Just be aware that I'm coming to take back that title."

**XxX**

**A/N: **Hey guys! I know that I have A LOT of stories to edit/finish/do... but this story was burning like an IRON in the back of my mind. I promise promise promise to get to all of those stories soon since I'm on vacation and have WAY too much time on my hands, haha.

Not sure what else to write but please review and tell me what you think! 3333

Oh, and I promise to [also] explain what the Royal Tournament is and Ryuu in more detail. :D

HAVE A NICE WEEEKKKKEEENNNDDD... OR VACATION!


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